Life's Surprises
by Kyokutou
Summary: After Kyoto Tsuzuki is put on temporary leave, but Hisoka isn't. Pairing hasn't appeared yet, but it'll be Tatsoka. I don't own the characters, though Tatsumisan is my slave driver.
1. Chapter 1

There simply wasn't enough of this pairing and it's steadily become my favorite. It's Tatsoka, though it'll take a while to build up to it. :nervous smile: It's my first attempt at this pairing so let me know what you think.

Chapter 1

Hisoka woke up was a start. His breathing was heavy as he checked the bed sitting in front of him. Tsuzuki was lying there, asleep, all was well. It had been a week since Kyoto and no matter how many reassurances he had, Hisoka still dreamt every night that they hadn't made it in time. That he had lost his partner and his family.

Tsuzuki had not been alone ever since that night. During work hours Watari was with him. Tatsumi would make an occasional appearance, usually with lunch for Tsuzuki or a pile of paperwork for himself to do while he was there. Hisoka was there any chance he could. His breaks, lunch, and most of the time after work was spent in the infirmary with Tsuzuki. He'd always have a book or would feign disinterest in his partner to keep things normal.

It was the nights that were very different. Tatsumi and Watari would stop in and say their good-byes as they got ready to head home and once they were both gone Hisoka would drop the mask slightly and mention that he should probably be heading home. Tsuzuki never failed to ask the empath to stay and Hisoka never refused his partner's request. He would stay seated in the chair next to Tsuzuki and that was where he slept.

The empath had no complaints about the way things were going, except that the chair was highly uncomfortable and the nightmares wouldn't leave him. He once again checked to make sure that his partner was really there. When she shifted to lean forward, he realized two things. One, his back didn't crack as it usually did and two, the chair was suddenly much more comfortable this morning. He looked down and realized that the small chair had transformed into a larger one with more cushioning. His eternally young body had been able to curl up properly in it with his head on one of the armrests.

"What in the world?" He examined the chair to find that it was actually rather expensive and that he had never seen it before in his life or death. His voice must have woken Tsuzuki because he heard a shifting in the bed next to him. When he looked over he found two amethyst eyes staring wide-eyed at the chair.

"When did you bring that here, Hisoka?" The man asked in a sleepy voice as he rubbed his eyes. Hisoka rolled his at his partner before flopping back down in the chair. It was there and comfortable so he might as well use it. Besides, he must have slept most of the night in it.

"I found it here when I woke up. I don't know where it came from." He said with a sigh. This was the first time he had woken up without his back screaming at him in a week. "I'd like to find out, though." Tsuzuki nodded in agreement before sitting up.

"It was nice of whoever brought it to think of you like that." The man gave Hisoka a sad smile. "I don't know why you won't just sleep in one of the beds here. There's plenty of them." He gestured to the half a dozen unused beds sitting in the infirmary.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." The empath said with a slight huff. He'd never admit that it was because he needed to make sure Tsuzuki was there after the dreams and the beds were too far away to meet this demand. The comment, however, pulled Tsuzuki into puppy mode.

"That's so mean, 'Soka-chan! I just wanna make sure you take care of yourself. You already take care of me." Hisoka glared and Tsuzuki whimpered still in puppy mode. "'Soka-chan!" The man whined. This little argument was what Tatsumi walked into as he entered the infirmary. He made no comment and was getting ready to leave when Tsuzuki spotted him. "Ah! Tatsumi-san, look at what someone did for Hisoka. They left him a nice comfy chair to sleep in since he won't sleep in the beds." Hisoka groaned and covered his eyes with his hand.

"I see that. I wonder who would have the money to pay for such a thing." Tatsumi said with a slight grimace. They all knew that Tatsumi had an odd habit of being able appraise things with one look. No doubt, he recognized how expensive the chair was. Hisoka jumped slightly and turned his head to Tatsumi.

"They could try to write it off as a business expense. Tatsumi-san, would you . . ." The empath trailed off. He hadn't wanted it to slip that he was curious, but well, he was. Not only that, but Tatsumi wasn't one to hand out his assistance without some sort of compensation.

"I shall keep an eye on the expenses for you, Kurosaki-kun." The man said as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. "I, too, would like to know who would do such a thing." Hisoka wasn't as fluent in Tatsumi as Tsuzuki was, but he figured this meant he wanted to know who would spend this much money on something as a chair for the infirmary and that they would not get away with it as a business expense unless they gave the proper reasoning.

"Thank you, Tatsumi-san." The empath bowed his head slightly to the man before standing up. This routine was normal as well. When Tatsumi showed up for work Hisoka would go home and get ready himself while the secretary looked after Tsuzuki. Tatsumi nodded his head in return and Hisoka teleported to his house.

His mind was still working through who could have done something like this as he took his shower. Tsuzuki would have been his first guess since he always seemed to worry about Hisoka, but the man had no money, especially not after the damages in Kyoto and he had been asleep when it had happened. Watari was his next guess, but the scientist had mentioned earlier that his latest batch of exploding potions had managed to deplete his salary so there was barely money to live off of, much less spend on things like chairs. Tatsumi was immediately eliminated. The secretary wouldn't have spent so much on something and he had also expressed an interest in who it was. Konoe, wouldn't have wasted any of his souvenir budget on this so he was out, too. Terazuma didn't like Tsuzuki so he wouldn't dream of helping his partner and Wakaba's gifts were usually food she had cooked herself.

By the end of his shower he had eliminated everyone in Meifu. He swore lightly as he got dressed, swearing he was going to figure this out if it killed him, again. Once he dressed he moved into his kitchen. "_Breakfast. Breakfast. Do I really need to eat?_" Hisoka thought as he looked thought his cabinets. Tsuzuki's voice wormed its way into his mind.

"_Are you eating all right, Hisoka? Tatsumi yelled at me the other day saying that I should be taking better care of you_." Hisoka groaned and grabbed a bowl for cereal. He wondered just when Tsuzuki seemed to take over as his conscience, or his mother, he wasn't sure which it really was. The cereal settled strange in his stomach and he had a vague feeling that it wasn't going to set right at all during the day.

"_Damn. Tsuzuki owes me for this._" He cursed again as he swallowed another mouthful. As he ate Hisoka established that he was not one for eating breakfast and that Tsuzuki would pay for this, somehow.

The air in the offices was a bit strained. Since Kyoto it had always been a bit tight, but this was a whole new level. As Hisoka walked down he hall he was forced to focus more on his shields than usual. Something had definitely happened while he was getting ready. Watari poked his head out of the infirmary and was the first to greet him.

"Hey, there, Bon! As soon as you're finished with Tsuzuki, here, Konoe said to go to his office." He quickly ran down the hall forcing Hisoka to see Tsuzuki. The empath knew now that something had happened and that he probably wasn't going to like it. He was being sent to Tsuzuki before to try to calm him down so that he wouldn't blow up at Konoe. The old man had had one to many heart attacks from Hisoka's sudden bursts. He'd, of course, lived through them all, but it was no fun for any of them and they worked to not repeat the event again.

With a sigh, he entered the infirmary. Tsuzuki was finishing off his breakfast and caught sight of Hisoka. His face brightened at he quickly finished the meal. Hisoka sat in the chair as he waited for his partner to finish.

"Ne, Hisoka, do you know why Konoe-kachou wants to see you?" Hisoka shook his head and settled into the chair. He was a bit nervous about the meeting, not that he'd ever admit that. His mind was already coming up with a few reasons for the meeting and none of them meant anything good. "Don't worry, Hisoka. It can't be all bad. Watari just told me that they're gonna give me something to do all day." Tsuzuki brightened and began talking about becoming Watari's lab assistant for a while. Hisoka noted that in the description it was specifically mentioned that he was not to be a guinea pig for any experiments.

"That's nice, Tsuzuki." The bad feeling about the meeting suddenly became worse. If they were giving Tsuzuki something to do then that meant that they were ready to put them both back to work. He suddenly knew what the meeting was about. He groaned and slid down in the chair. "They're assigning me a partner." Tsuzuki stopped mid-sentence, Hisoka wasn't aware he had been speaking.

"That . . . I guess that would make sense . . ." Tsuzuki's face had fallen. Both of them were wary. To them it felt a bit like Konoe was trying to replace Tsuzuki. They know that wasn't the case, but the feeling was hard to ignore. "Don't worry, Hisoka. I'm sure I'll be in working order in no time. Then we'll go back to the way things were." Tsuzuki said, his face brightening. Hisoka wasn't falling for it for a second.

"Don't worry, idiot." The empath huffed as he stood up. "I'll go get this over with. Once we meet I'll come back and tell you all about how much it sucked, happy?" Tsuzuki gave him a small smile and waved to him as he walked toward the door.

"Good luck, 'Soka-chan! Behave! No scratching and biting!" He called after his friend. Hisoka sneered and slammed the door behind him. Watari laughed from his place outside the door, but stopped after a glare from Hisoka.

"Easy, Bon! He's just worried." He gave him a nervous smile and slipped into the infirmary. Hisoka sighed and walked toward Konoe's office. The tense air seemed to make sense suddenly. Everyone had probably been warned so that they wouldn't be forced to face Hisoka's wrath and Tsuzuki's nervousness unprepared. Once he got to the office the knocked on the door before pushing it open.

"Ah! There you are, Hisoka!" Konoe said with a forced smile. Hisoka could feel the nervousness come off of him in waves. Tatsumi was standing next to him, the emotional blank wall that he always was. The empath had no idea what was running through the secretary's mind as he pushed his glasses up on his face.

"I'm sure, by now, you have figured out why you have been called in here, Kurosaki-kun." He nodded. "You and Tsuzuki-san are still in charge of Kyushu and with Tsuzuki-san's condition . . ." The secretary trailed off as his eyes softened lightly. Konoe stepped in.

"We understand that the two of you are extremely close, but you must have a partner and Tsuzuki is unable to perform his duties. This is only temporary, until Tsuzuki is able to come back to work." Hisoka rolled his eyes and nodded his head. He understood them, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Now that you understand the situation I would like you to meet your new partner." The door opened and an older man came in. "Kurosaki-kun, this is Iwasaki-san. He will be your partner and will fill you in on everything you will need to know for your role as shinigami." The man nodded his head to Hisoka.

"Iwasaki Kazuma. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said with a slight sneer in his voice. Hisoka rolled his eyes and looked back at Konoe and Tatsumi. The nervousness coming off of Konoe seemed to increase and Tatsumi was as unreadable as ever as he handed Hisoka a file.

"Here is the case file. I apologize that there is no briefing this time, but we need the two of you to start on this right away. We have put it off as long as possible." Hisoka nodded as he took the file from the secretary. "I will keep an eye on Tsuzuki-san for you, Kurosaki-kun."

"Thank you, Tatsumi-san. We will be on our way then." He turned around and walked out of the office, expecting his new partner to follow. His head was beginning to ache at the emotions he was receiving from his new partner. The first thing he would need to learn is how to shield. He turned around suddenly glaring murder at the man. "Let me explain something. One," He held up a single finger. "I am an empath. This means that I feel other people's emotions. That means you are going to have to learn how to shield. And two," He held up another finger. "This partnership is only temporary. Got that?" The man's eyes narrowed slightly and Hisoka felt the anger before the man even clenched his fists.

"Look, you brat. I don't take orders from kids. Let's just get this case over with." He said gruffly and returned Hisoka's glare. The empath turned up the power of the ice in his gaze and saw the man shudder slightly, though his gaze remained fixed on Hisoka.

"Fine." He opened the file and found the place they were supposed to go. They both teleported to their location, still glaring murder at the other, though Hisoka's cold eyes seemed to be winning their silent battle.


	2. Chapter 2

Weee! Chapter 2. This came out quickly because the plot came this time. Finals are starting soon so I may not update quickly. Let me know what you think. :smiles:

Chapter 2

The door to the infirmary slammed open and Hisoka cam storming in. Tsuzuki and Watari stared slightly stunned as the empath threw himself down in the chair and glared at the wall across the room. "I'll leave the two of you to talk this out." Watari said nervously before exiting the room. Tsuzuki looked down at Hisoka and gave him a nervous smile.

"I'm taking it your first case didn't go so well, did it?" The icy glare of doom turned to Tsuzuki. He froze in place and laughed nervously. "Want to talk about it?" The empath huffed and turned his gaze back to the blank wall.

"Idiot." He huffed and Tsuzuki seemed to deflate. Before he could say anything Hisoka spoke again. "You may be an idiot, but _that_ man is a fucking moron!" The exasperated sigh caught Tsuzuki's attention. "I swear, Tsuzuki. First he gets all pissy because his superior is younger than he is then he goes and blows our cover the second we get into the field. He sucks with fuda, not that I can say much, but at least I never got us killed. Add on top of that the fact that the man can't shield to save his life." Hisoka closed his eyes and began to massage his temples. "I'm going to have a migraine from dealing with him just that short amount of time.

"He goes and gets us both nearly killed and then when we have to explain ourselves to Tatsumi-san and Konoe-kachou he has the balls to blame me, saying that if I had been a better shinigami then we wouldn't have had all those problems. God! That fucking bastard then proceeds to chew me out right there in front of the two of them. I swear if the two of them hadn't stepped in I'd have killed him." Tsuzuki looked down at the empath as he sat there, seething in the chair.

"What happened to him?" He asked. The look of complete hatred and anger left Hisoka's face and was replaced with an evil smirk. Tsuzuki figured Tatsumi had had a hand in what happened.

"Konoe-kachou threw a stapler at him to shut him up then proceeded to chew him out right there. He was demoted to the lowest possible position, forced to give me a verbal and written apology and pay for all the damages himself." Tsuzuki couldn't help, but smirk as well. The man had gotten exactly what he had deserved. "Tatsumi-san told me to check on you before he had his say in the matter. I don't think we'll be seeing him again for a long while."

"That's good." He smiled at the empath in the seat next to him. "So, what are you going to do now?" A raised eyebrow was all that he got in response. Emerald eyes were focused on Tsuzuki's amethyst. "Well, they're not going to let you stay here and not work." He gave him a sympathetic look. If things were going to go the way he thought then Hisoka would have to deal with a string of forgettable partners until Tsuzuki came back to work. He wasn't sure how long that would be and it certainly wouldn't help Hisoka open up any.

"I'm not sure. I'll just wait and see what Tatsumi-san and Konoe-kachou decide after this." The teenager shrugged and slumped down in the chair. "I still can't believe how stupid that guy was. Do you know how he blew our cover?" Tsuzuki shook his head signaling for the boy to tell him. "He started babbling along about his former job and his wife and his daughter and mentioned how she was really upset that she was an only child. What a fucking moron!" Tsuzuki smiled, figuring their cover was as father and son. "We were at a father-son picnic thing for some company." He explained, catching Tsuzuki's stray thought.

"Man, that guy sounds like a real idiot. Nothing like me, right?" Tsuzuki asked with an annoying tone. Hisoka looked up at him with a slightly annoyed look.

"No, you _are_ an idiot, but _he_ was a fucking moron. There is a difference. You are tolerable, he is not." Hisoka explained, knowing Tsuzuki would have no idea. "Tatsumi was so pissed I was beginning to feel it. That has _never_ happened before." This time Tsuzuki raised an eyebrow. "That was right around the part where I was explaining to the moron exactly why I couldn't see the demon because he had managed to screw up a simple fuda and blinded me with it. That was the first fuda I learned and even _I _hadn't been able to fuck it up that badly." Tsuzuki was seething right now. He made sure the emotion was behind his shields so that he wouldn't strain Hisoka's empathy further.

"You're all right now, right?" He asked. Hisoka rolled his eyes and looked over at the elder shinigami. Tsuzuki took in every detail of his face and found that the empath did seem perfectly fine.

"I'm fine. I used my empathy to locate the demon then used a fuda to kill it. My eyesight came back soon after that, but not before that fucking moron started screaming at me that the whole thing was my fault and that he was going to make sure Tatsumi-san and Konoe-kachou fired me the second we got back to Meifu."

"Your day must have really sucked, huh?" The look on Hisoka's face caused Tsuzuki to grin and ruffle his hair. "If it makes you feel any better, I've been stuck here all day listening to Watari tell me about his latest invention." Hisoka smirked.

"Then your day sucked, but it still wasn't as bad as mine. Don't think you're getting any sweets out of me." Tsuzuki pouted and began to whine about how the world was unfair and how no one would let him have any sweets. Hisoka listened halfheartedly as he was considering the leak in emotion he had received from Tatsumi.

"Mou! 'Soka-chan! Why do you always beat me!" Tsuzuki whined as he lost his fourth hand of poker. The two had gotten bored of speaking about their sucky days and had moved on to entertaining themselves. Tatsumi walked in as Tsuzuki was throwing the cards down on the bed in frustration. "Hey there, Tatsumi-san!" Tsuzuki's mood changed suddenly as the secretary entered into his line of sight. The empath turned around in the chair and greeted him with a head nod, which he returned.

"I see the two of you are enjoying yourselves." He adjusted his glasses and took in the nervous look on Tsuzuki's face. "Just to let you know, Iwasaki-san is no longer working here." The tone in his voice implied that it was more than just a demotion that was involved in that.

"That's good." Tsuzuki said with a small smile, but it quickly faded. "What's going to happen now? Is he going to have to break in a new partner?" They all knew what the sad look was about. "Actually, Konoe-kachou thought it would be better if I temporarily worked as Kurosaki-kun's partner." This shocked them both. "A new partner would be a disaster, much like what happened with Iwasaki-san. Not only would Kurosaki-kun have to help them adjust to life as a shinigami, but they would also have to learn to shield. It is too much to put on him and a new recruit." Tatsumi adjusted his glasses and waited for a response. Tsuzuki spoke first.

"That's wonderful!" Four sets of eyes whirled to look at Tsuzuki. "Well, Tatsumi has the best shields of all of us and we all know that the two of you work together rather well here in the office." Tsuzuki smiled. They all understood the implied reason. He trusted Tatsumi with his partner, trusted that Tatsumi would protect him.

"What do you think about all of this, Kurosaki-kun?" All eyes then turned to the empath. He shrugged and began to run a finger on the armrest, tracing the pattern in the fabric.

"As long as I never have to deal with that moron again I'm fine with it." His eyes narrowed at the furniture. Tsuzuki noticed the change in vocabulary and stifled a giggle. "Do you want me to start on the paperwork for this mission?" Tatsumi raised an eyebrow.

"Your paperwork was already placed on my desk." The empath almost fell from the chair. "I was wondering why it was typed instead of in your usual handwriting. It wasn't you that completed it?" Tsuzuki gave him a concerned look.

"It wasn't me, Tatsumi-san. I came right here and haven't left since I was in Konoe-kachou's office." He said in moderate surprise. "This is really weird." Tsuzuki nodded his head in agreement.

"Well, with your paperwork complete you can take the rest of the day off. There isn't much else to do and that mission was the only one we had." He said as he adjusted his glasses. With that said, he left the infirmary and two very stunned shinigami. The infamous secretary Tatsumi had given Hisoka a day off. Neither of them would forget this day.

"Tatsumi gave you a day off?" Tsuzuki asked in an astounded voice. Hisoka nodded his head and it seemed to shake him out of shock and return him to his normal self. "I never thought I'd see the day. Tatsumi's never given me a day off."

"That's because you're perpetually late, slack off once you finally show up, and have the largest backlog of overdue paperwork in the history of Meifu." His tone was matter of fact with a hint of smugness and irritation. "Not to mention that most of the paperwork I complete is yours as well." Tsuzuki pouted at the empath. Hisoka sighed and looked over at Tsuzuki. "I'm going to go home for a bit."

"Oh, okay. You'll be back later, right?" Tsuzuki asked with a slightly sad smile. Hisoka looked over at him and rolled his eyes. They were a pathetic pair, weren't they?

"Yes, I'll be back later. I just have to do a few things, idiot." With that said, he stood up and walked out to find Watari. The scientist would watch Tsuzuki while he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took so long to update, but my life has been extremely hectic :nervous smile: Also was being wierd and not letting me upload the document for a while. :shrugs: I'll just leave it at that and let you get on with the chapter.

Hisoka's house was quiet. It was something he sorely missed with spending all of his time in the infirmary with Tsuzuki. The man never shut his mouth especially with Hisoka around. If it wasn't about something sweet, it was Hisoka's bad habits concerning his health. His house however, had no complaints like that. It was silent, giving himself time to think.

"_First the chair and now paperwork . . . this is rather creepy._" The empath shivered as he went into his kitchen. He searched for some sort of food since he hadn't really eaten in a few days, but there was nothing there. "_Great. The one time I really want something to eat and there's none to be found._" He let out a sigh and moved to get a bath.

When he walked through the house he noticed something odd about his study. The door was open and the small light was on. That was something he never did. With an irritated sigh he moved over to the study to turn off the light. He stopped dead in his tracks. On the small table was a pile of books tied with a simple ribbon.

"_What in the world is going on here?_" His eyes wide, he made his way carefully up to the stack and looked down at the titles on the spines. Each of them looked like something he either would be interested in or was some sort of instructional manual about some detail of being a shinigami. He shivered again and carefully backed out of the room. This was beginning to freak him out.

Watari and Tsuzuki both jumped when Hisoka suddenly appeared in front of them. He looked a bit worried, for Hisoka. "What's up, Bon?" He had told Watari that it would be a few hours before he showed up again. It had only been one.

"A pile of books appeared in my house." Tsuzuki turned his head to the side and sent the empath a confused look. Books were a common item in Hisoka's house, why would a pile freak him out. "I don't know where it came from. I went home and there it was, sitting in my study with a ribbon tied around it." Both Watari and Tsuzuki froze. Breaking into a shinigami's house was incredibly difficult. Most, including Hisoka set up simple fuda spells that prevented anyone from entering uninvited.

"We should tell Tatsumi about this. He's been looking into those other things that have been happening. I'm sure he'll want to know about this." Tsuzuki suggested. Watari looked a bit confused and his eyes kept darting back and forth between the two of them.

"You mean you haven't put two and two together yet?" He asked with a hint of surprise in his voice. "I'd have guessed you would have gotten it by now, Bon. Tsuzuki, probably not, but definitely you, Bon." Both eyes shot to look at him. He felt a bit nervous upon receiving the serious look from Tsuzuki and the death glare from Hisoka.

"What exactly are you trying to say, Watari?" Hisoka's voice was filled with venom and his aura was beginning to be visible around him and it didn't look too friendly. The scientist flashed him a nervous smile.

"Er . . . you should go talk to Tatsumi. I think he would want to know about this." His voice couldn't hold and it cracked a few times as he spoke. The aura still didn't look too friendly and he had seen some of the things the empath had done to his partner. He thanked every deity he could think of that Tatsumi walked in at that very moment.

"Kurosaki-kun? I thought you had already gone home for the day. Was there something else that you needed to complete?" The secretary asked, completely unfazed by the aura surrounding the fuming empath. Emerald eyes turned to him and the aura dampened. Hisoka seemed approachable now.

"Someone slipped into my house and left a pile of books." Hisoka said with a slightly embarrassed tone. He usually tried to remain calm around the secretary to avoid being seen as an inferior partner for his precious Tsuzuki. Tatsumi adjusted his glasses.

"Are you any closer to finding out who the culprit might be, Tatsumi?" Watari asked with a hint of mischief in his voice. Neither Tsuzuki nor Hisoka understood what the scientist was trying to say. Tatsumi narrowed his eyes and adjusted his glasses once again.

"I have been through all of the budget requests, but nothing has come up. I will continue to keep my eye out for it, though." Hisoka nodded in appreciation, as did Tsuzuki. There was a small awkward silence before Watari spoke up again.

"Well, why don't you head on ahead home, Bon? It's not like the person is going to show up while you're home. They seem to enjoy keeping you out of the loop." He winked. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Tsuzuki for you." Hisoka let out a tired sigh. He was a bit afraid of going home now, not that he would ever admit this to any of them, but resigned himself to his fate. "If you're still uneasy, I'm sure Tatsumi could check out your house to make sure everything is all right." The scientist added. Hisoka looked up at the secretary with what he hoped was not a desperate look.

"That would be awesome!" Tsuzuki piped up. "Then we wouldn't have to worry." The secretary looked at the two of them before his eyes rested on Hisoka's emerald eyes.

"If it will put your minds at ease, I will do it." He explained. Tsuzuki let out a cheer and Watari smiled. Hisoka made no gesture of thanks though without his knowledge his eyes held gratitude. Tatsumi placed a hand on the empath's shoulder and they teleported to the empath's front porch.


End file.
